by RitterKreuz » Sun Feb 25, 2007 8:54 pm
most likely as a flight attendant you would start at a regional airline, you might get in with a major, but there is never any guarantee.
the site listed above is good for pay rates, but as for the lifestyle...
Most of the flight attendants i run into have a 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment called a "crash pad" that they share with 3 or 4 other flight attendants. Now i know it sounds crowded, but you have to consider that while you are on a day off, most of your "roomies" are spread out all over the rest of the USA, and while they are off, you might be working. Some days the apartment will be packed, most days you will be there with one roomie, or all by yourself. The nice thing about that is that you can get a decent place at 1/4 the cost. So if walking distance to the beach in L.A. is what you long for, it can be done. but where you decide to live depends a lot on where you are based, and what company you work for.
At my work... LAX, Miami, Chicago, Boston, New York and Dallas are major bases. All pretty cool places to live if you ask me.
As far as working conditions, some airlines are better than others, but regardless of the company you decide to go with, the flight attendants always complain about the same old stuff. The pay, the hours, the crappy short overnights and their rights in general.
Lets say you are Dallas based and you are on day 4 of a 4 day trip and looking forward to going home after this one last leg - dont bet on it until you are sitting in your living room. If the company is short 1 flight attendant even if the trip they need a flight attendant on originates in chicago they dont care - there is a good chance you will get called to deadhead to shitcago to work another 3 legs. suddenly your easy 6am to 1pm day just turned into a very tiring 6am to 9pm day.
its also not uncommon for flight attendants i have been paired up with to sleep on the plane if we have an hour break between flights. they frequently ask "Do we keep this plane to the next destination?" i check the paperwork and i say "yep, looks like we do." 5 minutes later they are zonked out sawing logs in seat 9C ;D If i see passengers coming i will give them a wake up chime with the seatbelt sign a few times but most of the time the gate agents are nice enough to come down and ask if we are ready.
feisty passengers are another pet peeve of flight attendants i speak to. Like the lady who just refuses to turn off her cell phone, and then tries to trick you into thinking she turned it off. (You're not that stupid) or the horror story i heard about a flight attendant who had to help a 90 year old man go #2 in a tiny lavatory at 25,000 feet (she went above and beyond the call of duty).
There are good things too, like the comradeship of a good crew. I try to make my flight attendants feel like they are part of the crew - because they are! i often say "if there is anything you need back there at all call us up an we will back you up on it 100%, once that cockpit door closes, its YOUR cabin ok? we will see you when we get there". If its a rookie flight attendant fresh off of IOE we will give her some trash bags or some cups and tell her (in the most straight face we can) to go down the cabin in the areas of Row 4 row 10 and row 14 and take air samples so we can submit them to the FAA. Amazingly MANY of the girls go with it despite thinking someone might be pulling their leg! the crew you are paired with can make or brake the month for you as far as how much fun you have.
but, if traveling is your thing, and you want a chance to say "been there done that" to just about anything a person could suggest doing, and you can put up with the occasional ugly little scenarios - go for it.
hope this info helps! 8-)
